The presidency of George Washington began on April 30, 1789, when George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1797.
1789 April 1789 April 30 – George Washington is inaugurated as the first president of the United States. John Adams becomes vice president.
May 1789 May 11 – Washington visits the John Street Theatre for the first time when he attends a performance of The School for Scandal. He becomes a regular patron and frequently brings important figures as guests in the president's box. May 16 – Washington's wife Martha departs from the Washington residence at Mount Vernon to the capital in New York. May 27 – Washington receives his wife at Elizabethtown, New York.
June 1789 June 1 – The first bill passed under the Constitution, An Act to regulate the Time and Manner of administering certain Oaths, is passed and signed by George Washington. June 17 – Samuel Bard operates on Washington to remove a tumor from his thigh. His father, John Bard, supervises.
July 1789 July 4 – Congress passes the Tariff of 1789, its first protective tariff. July 27 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (later renamed the Department of State) is established as the first agency of the federal government of the United States. July 29 – The Senate ratifies a convention regarding the consuls of France and the United States from the previous November.
August 1789 August 5 – Washington makes a surprise appearance at the Senate after it rejects his nomination of Benjamin Fishbourn as collector of the Port of Savannah. August 7 The Department of War is established. The Lighthouse Act is passed. August 21 – A proposal for a Bill of Rights is adopted by the House of Representatives. August 22 – Washington delivers a proposed treaty with the Creek people to the Senate. He goes in person for advice and consent, as described in the Constitution. He is insulted when Senator William Maclay refers him to a committee. This leads Washington to create the presidential Cabinet so he can have his own advisors. He decides to communicate treaties in writing going forward. August 25 – Washington's mother Mary Ball Washington dies.
September 1789 September 1 – Washington receives news of his mother's death. September 2 – The Department of the Treasury is founded. September 11 – Alexander Hamilton becomes the first Secretary of the Treasury. September 12 – Henry Knox becomes the first United States Secretary of War. September 15 The Department of Foreign Affairs is renamed the Department of State. A law is passed to "provide for the safe keeping of the Acts, Records and Seal of the United States". September 22 – The position of postmaster general is established. September 24 The Judiciary Act of 1789 creates the federal courts and establishes that the Supreme Court has six justices. Washington nominates John Jay as Chief Justice of the United States. He nominates John Blair Jr., William Cushing, John Rutledge, and James Wilson as justices of the Supreme Court. He also nominates Robert H. Harrison, but Harrison declines. Washington nominates Gunning Bedford Jr., Francis Hopkinson, Harry Innes, Richard Law, John Lowell, Nathaniel Pendleton, David Sewall, and John Sullivan to the United States District Courts for the Districts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maine, and New Hampshire, respectively. He also nominates Thomas Johnson, Edmund Pendleton, and Thomas Pinckney to the District Courts for the Districts of Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, respectively, but they decline. September 25 Washington nominates David Brearley and James Duane to the United States District Courts for the Districts of New Jersey and New York, respectively. Congress proposes a set of 12 amendments to the Constitution, for ratification by the states. Ten of them will be ratified and become the Bill of Rights. Another will be adopted as the Twenty-seventh Amendment in 1992. September 26 Thomas Jefferson becomes the first secretary of state, Edmund Randolph becomes the first attorney general, and Samuel Osgood becomes the first postmaster general. Jefferson ends his tenure as Minister Plenipotentiary to France. September 29 – The 1st United States Congress adjourns from its first session.
October 1789 October – Washington goes on a tour of New England to foster a sense of national unity. He travels with a small group to give a modest impression. His stops include New Haven, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; Salem, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Lexington, Massachusetts. He is afflicted with a cold and an eye inflammation during his trip. October 3 – Washington issues the National Thanksgiving Proclamation, ordering a Thanksgiving day.
November 1789 November 13 – Washington returns to New York following his tour of New England. November 18 – Washington selects William Drayton as a recess appointment to the District Court for the District of South Carolina. November 21 – North Carolina joins the Union as the 12th State. November 26 – The first Thanksgiving is held. November 28 – Washington selects Cyrus Griffin as a recess appointment to the District Court for the District of Virginia.
December 1789 December 22 – Washington selects William Paca as a recess appointment to the District Court for the District of Maryland.
1790 January 1790 January 4 – The 1st United States Congress convenes for its second session. January 8 – Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address. January 14 – Hamilton submits the First Report on the Public Credit to Congress. January 17 – Washington is incapacitated by severe toothache.
February 1790 February 1 – The Supreme Court convenes for the first time. It meets at the Merchants Exchange in New York City for a ten-day session. February 8 Washington nominates James Iredell to the Supreme Court. Washington nominates his recess appointments William Drayton, Cyrus Griffin, and William Paca to continue serving in their respective seats. February 11 – Representative James Madison breaks with Washington and Hamilton by criticizing Hamilton's economic policy as too favorable for speculators. He proposes a discriminatory policy that would benefit original debt holders, primarily veterans. February 22 – The House rejects Madison's proposal of a discriminatory economic policy. February 23 – Washington moves into a larger presidential residence. February 25 – North Carolina cedes its western territories (modern day Tennessee) to the federal government.Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909, ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p169
March 1790 March 1 – The first United States Census is authorized. March 26 – Congress passes the Naturalization Act of 1790, its first naturalization law. It permits white people to become citizens after two years of residence.
April 1790 April 10 – The Patent Act of 1790 passes, establishing the United States patent system. April 20 Following a period of illness, Washington takes a five day tour of Long Island to recover. William Carmichael becomes the first US Chargé d'Affaires to Spain. April 30 – A law is passed establishing federal crimes such as murder and treason, applicable under the jurisdiction of federal land or the sea.
May 1790 May – Shortly after recovering from his previous illness, Washington is severely affected by the flu epidemic. His hearing is mostly lost. Physicians Samuel Bard, John McKnight, and John Charlton are summoned, and there are fears Washington will not survive. William Jackson informally oversees the presidential office while the president is incapacitated, and Hamilton leads the administration's policy. May 12 – John Jones, the personal physician of Benjamin Franklin, is sneaked into New York to tend to Washington. May 16 – Washington begins recovering from his flu. May 18 – News breaks of Washington's flu and subsequent recovery. May 26 – Congress passes an act to govern the creation of states from the "Southwest Territory", from which Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi will be formed. May 27 – Washington resumes his duties after recovering from his flu. May 29 – Rhode Island ratifies the Constitution and becomes the thirteenth state. May 31 – The Copyright Act of 1790, the first copyright law of the United States, is signed into law.
June 1790 June 6 – Washington goes on a fishing trip with Jefferson and Hamilton to improve his health. June 7 – Washington nominates William Richardson Davie to the District Court for the District of North Carolina, but Davie declines. June 11 – Washington nominates Thomas Bee to the District Court for the District of South Carolina. June 14 – William Short becomes Minister Plenipotentiary to France. June 20 – Compromise of 1790: Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton come to an agreement: Madison agrees to not be "strenuous" in opposition for the assumption of state debts by the federal government; Hamilton agrees to support the capital site being above the Potomac.
July 1790 July 2 – Washington nominates Henry Marchant to the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. July 10 The House of Representatives votes, 32–29 to approve creating the District of Columbia from portions of Maryland and Virginia for the eventual seat of government and national capital. Washington visits Fort Washington in Manhattan with his cabinet. Also present is Adams's son John Quincy Adams. July 16 – The national capital is legally changed from New York City to present-day Washington, D.C. The Residence Act authorizes Washington to order surveys and acquisitions of the land and sets a deadline of December 1800. July 20 – Alexander McGillivary, a leader of the Creek people, arrives in New York to negotiate the Treaty of New York. July 22 – The Nonintercourse Act sets requirements for a license to trade with Indian tribes.
August 1790 August – Washington sends Josiah Harmar on a campaign in the Northwest Indian War. August 2 – Washington nominates John Stokes to the District Court for the District of North Carolina. August 4 The Funding Act of 1790 is passed. The federal government assumes all debts incurred by the states during the American Revolutionary War. A newly passed U.S. tariff act creates the system of cutters for revenue enforcement (later named the United States Revenue Cutter Service), the forerunner of the Coast Guard. August 7 – The United States signs the Treaty of New York with the Creek people. August 12 – The 1st United States Congress adjourns from its second session. Washington travels to Rhode Island over the following days. The government begins moving from New York to Philadelphia, as Philadelphia will become the new temporary capital in December. August 14 – Washington issues a proclamation declaring a treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Creek Nations. August 22 – Washington briefly returns to New York. August 26 – Washington issues a proclamation warning against violation of treaties with the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples. August 28 – Washington selects Robert Morris as a recess appointment to the District Court for the District of New Jersey. August 30 – Washington departs from New York to Philadelphia.
September 1790 September 6 – Washington departs from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon. September 12 – Washington arrives at Mount Vernon. September 30 – Hamilton sends Washington a message, influenced by British officer George Beckwith, encouraging him to recall Gouverneur Morris from London.
October 1790 October 15 – Washington departs from Mount Vernon to visit sites for the national capital.